Encyclopaedia of Information Knowledge Management

Knowledge management is a key management discipline that focuses on the effective gathering, organisation, storage, dissemination and flow of information and knowledge within organisations. We aim to provide you with the skills to effectively deploy knowledge management techniques to enable the successful leveraging of the value of information and knowledge assets within an organisational context. KM efforts have a long history, to include on-the-job discussions, formal apprenticeship, discussion forums, corporate libraries, professional training and mentoring programs. More recently, with increased use of computers in the second half of the 20th century, specific adaptations of technologies such as knowledge bases, expert systems, knowledge repositories, group decision support systems, intranets, and computer-supported cooperative work have been introduced to further enhance such efforts. In 1999, the term personal knowledge management was introduced which refers to the management of knowledge at the individual level. In terms of the enterprise, early collections of case studies recognized the importance of knowledge management dimensions of strategy, process, and measurement. Key lessons learned included: people and the cultural norms which influence their behaviours are the most critical resources for successful knowledge creation, dissemination, and application; cognitive, social, and organizational learning processes are essential to the success of a knowledge management strategy; and measurement, benchmarking, and incentives are essential to accelerate the learning process and to drive cultural change. In short, knowledge management programs can yield impressive benefits to individuals and organizations if they are purposeful, concrete, and action-oriented. This encyclopaedia covers all the aspects of this subject. It is hoped, the encyclopaedia will be found to be of immense value to the students of this subject.